Rape: Sentencing

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average sentence handed down by courts in England and Wales for convictions for rape was in each of the last three years.

Maria Eagle: The requested information is contained in the following tables.
	2006 is the latest year for which annually published statistics are available. Data for 2007 will be published on 27 November.
	
		
			  Number of persons sentenced( 1)  by result and average length of immediate custodial sentence( 2)  for offences of rape, all courts, England and Wales, 2004-06 
			  Number of persons and average length of sentence (months) 
			 Result 
			  Offence description  Year  Total number sentenced  Absolute discharge  Conditional discharge  Fine  Community sentence  Fully suspended sentence  Immediate custody  Otherwise dealt with 
			 Rape(4)  742 2 2 — 16 — 713 9 
			 Rape of a female 2004 693 1 2 — 8 — 673 9 
			 Rape of a male  49 1 — — 8 — 40 — 
			   
			 Rape(4)  794 — 1 1 32 2 746 12 
			 Rape of a female 2005 726 — 1 1 21 2 690 11 
			 Rape of a male  68 — — — 11 — 56 1 
			   
			 Rape(4)  862 1 1 — 40 — 303 17 
			 Rape of a female 2006 787 1 1 — 25 — 746 14 
			 Rape of a male  75 — — — 15 — 57 3 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of persons and average length of sentence (months) 
			  Offence description  Average custodial sentence length( 2)  Indeterminate sentence( 3) 
			 Rape(4) 85.1 — 
			 Rape of a female 85.2 — 
			 Rape of a male 82.5 — 
			
			 Rape(4) 81.8 15 
			 Rape of a female 82.5 13 
			 Rape of a male 74.0 2 
			
			 Rape(4) 81.2 131 
			 Rape of a female 82.0 120 
			 Rape of a male 68.0 11 
			 (1) These data are on the principal offence basis. (2) Months. Excludes life and indeterminate sentences. (3) Sentences of imprisonment for public protection introduced by the Criminal Justice Act 2003 on 4 April 2005. (4) Includes rape of a male and a female.  Notes: 1. Persons receiving an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection for a serious offence would previously have received a lengthy determinate sentence that would have been included in the calculation of average custodial sentence length. These longer sentences are now effectively excluded from the calculation. This may account for the observed decrease in average custodial sentence lengths since 2004-05. 2. These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.  Source: OMS Analytical Services